During the early 1990s, as concealed carry laws were being instituted around the country, gun scholar John Lott used FBI stats to show the value of such laws at the county level. For example, in counties where concealed carry laws went into effect, “murder fell by about 8 percent, rapes fell by about 5 percent, and aggravated assaults fell by 7 percent.”

Lott also demonstrated that while the passage of concealed carry laws benefit both men and women, they actually benefit women more.

For example, in the category of murder, Lott used FBI crime stats to find that “one additional woman carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for women by 3-4 times more than one additional man carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for men.”

Lott claimed, “This occurs because allowing a woman to defend herself with a concealed handgun produces a much larger change in her ability to defend herself than the change created by providing a man with a handgun.”

Criminals target those whom they believe will be the easiest victims; for this reason women are especially targeted for certain crimes because criminals believe they can physically overtake women easier than men. But a gun in a woman’s hand changes this scenario completely.

A woman who can shoot back is not a victim, and she could be a criminal’s worst nightmare.